Dismay as sharks found dead
TWO ragged tooth sharks found dead on the rocks near the slipway near Gonubie point has riled anglers, surfers and residents.
The sharks, weighing more than 40kg each and measuring about 1.4m long, are suspected to have been caught on Tuesday night and, instead of being released as is the way of conservation-minded anglers, were either left to die on the boulders or kept out of the water for too long.
Buffalo City Metro’s acting chief of marine services Steven Rheeder said it was important to take care of them once caught and ensure they were released carefully back into the ocean.
“The two fish washed up as a result of being caught by anglers because of the cold water we have been experiencing in the last week.
“Raggies enjoy the cold water and that is why there has been an increase in their presence.
“They might have died because of an injury but they were definitely unhooked and may have lost their way, ending up on the rocks,” Rheeder said.
He added that anglers were quite within their rights to fish on the rocks but the problem might be that they kept the fish out of the water for too long.
“I would like to stress that anglers need to take care when releasing these fish and make sure that they have their cameras, measuring tape and other equipment nearby to avoid keeping them out of the water too long,” he said.
The Dispatch was present when BCM rangers arrived at the scene yesterday and loaded the dead male sharks into the back of a bakkie before taking them off to be buried.
Residents who gathered on the rocks off Gonubie point slipway expressed dismay over the discovery.
Tristan Wantenaar, 32, an avid angler, said he saw people fishing on Wednesday evening.
“We hardly ever see guys fishing here but last night I saw about three guys angling on the rocks and they pulled out a raggie,” Watenaar said.
The popular fishing spot is well known for ragged tooth shark sightings but residents said it was uncommon for the fish to wash up.
Linton Markus, 21, who stumbled across the dead sharks, said it was sad to see marine lives seemingly in their prime dead like that.
“This is honestly such an unfortunate thing to see because they don’t seem to have any gutting fishing hook signs on them, so it is very weird that they ended up on the rocks,” Markus said.
His cousin, Tyler Markus, 21, who bodyboards, said he often encountered sharks in the ocean and it felt really sad to see them lying dead on the rocks.
“It is such a waste for them to be dead because they are a part of marine life and they look quite young,” Tyler said. —